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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25515886">look at me, you're alright</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianchiyo/pseuds/lesbianchiyo'>lesbianchiyo</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Deaf Ren Au [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ookiku Furikabutte | Big Windup!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Deaf Character, Deaf Mihashi Ren, Drabble, Established Relationship, M/M, Sign Language</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:21:56</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>791</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25515886</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianchiyo/pseuds/lesbianchiyo</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Takaya's new and improved way of calming Ren down.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Abe Takaya/Mihashi Ren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Deaf Ren Au [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1875820</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>102</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>look at me, you're alright</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>just a daily reminder the sign for two outs also means ily in sign language.... </p><p>deaf ren headcanon where abemiha are dating and takaya likes to secretly put up the sign to calm ren down</p><p>i'm crying god i love them so much, don't talk to me i'm soft ahalwhaoaah</p><p>[not edited completely cause i'm lazy... i did read through and change somethings, but yk my sleep schedule is messed up. someone explain to me how i can stay up until 3 and then wake up at 7- like no, i wanna sleep until noon]</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> Takaya had had a hard time when he first met Ren. It had been irritating, the beginning of practice was spent learning signs not only for baseball, but for their pitcher too.</p><p> And Takaya knew, he knew it was selfish of him to be irritated, he knew that Ren couldn’t help his disability, and he knew, he knew the poor boy had gone through some shit. Ren had to of gone through something…he was terrified of signs, had spent ten minutes during their first day of practice stuttering up a storm of “It’s okay.” And “Don’t worry about it…I can read lips…”</p><p> It had been a losing battle and now Takaya knew how to say every team member’s name and a couple sentences…okay, maybe he knew more than a couple sentences. Maybe, just maybe he knew enough to have a normal conversation with the pitcher, but he was embarrassed to admit that fact.</p><p> He was embarrassed about the all-nighters he pulled after the Mihoshi game just so he could learn some more—it was at that moment Takaya had understood the boy that was Ren—he had stopped being irritated, and he had started being understanding.</p><p> And Ren was opening up to everyone too, Ren was teaching the team sign language, Ren was smiling, and Ren was laughing</p><p> And Ren looked just about ready to pass out.</p><p> It didn’t matter that they were second years now, some things never changed, and Ren’s nervousness was one of those things. The poor boy was staring at the batter coming up with flushed cheeks, and wide watery eyes.</p><p> He looked terrified, terrified because the batters on this team were way too good…they had already gotten three runs. Takaya was nervous too, he was stressed, but he knew Ren got the blame, the people cheering would blame the pitcher for the messed-up throws when half the time Takaya had made the wrong choice.</p><p> But the people in the stands didn’t know that, how could they know that?</p><p> Takaya nodded his head at the batter, the boy was probably only a couple inches taller than Yuuichirou and Takaya was just hoping he wasn’t as good as their cleanup.</p><p> The batter stretched his arms up, the bat barely missing his back. Takaya turned back towards Ren who was nervously fingering the ball in his hands, eyes wide as he bounced about looking everywhere.</p><p> Takaya remembered a conversation he had had with Ren during their first year; the first time Ren had spent the night. They had laid next to eachother on his bed all night, fingers entwined as Ren struggled to talk. He didn’t sound bad, though sometimes it was hard to understand him, but maybe that was just his stutter problem, right?</p><p> Ren told Takaya about middle school, how the team had blamed him for the three years of loss not just because he was a bad pitcher, but because he was deaf. They had refused to use sign language, had called it a pain in the ass, and then they had started covering their mouths when they talked—Ren’s fingers had shaken in Takaya’s grasp; Takaya’s heart had broken in two.</p><p> So, it was normal for Ren to get overwhelmed, especially in a game where they were losing. Takaya could almost feel the self-deprecating thoughts swarming the pitchers head.</p><p> His eyes met Takaya’s and for the first time in awhile he lost his breathe. They had been dating for almost a year, maybe it had already been a year…Ren was better at keeping track of the dates, but Takaya still got breathless from the smallest of glances.</p><p> The umpire gave Ren the sign that the batter was ready, and Takaya noticed the slight shake in his grip as he waited for Takaya’s sign.</p><p>
  <em> A slider to the inside. </em>
</p><p> Ren went rigid, and then he was shaking his head. The fear was oozing out of him now, Ren was drowning in it.</p><p> Takaya made sure Ren was staring at his hand, before he put up the sign. Thumb, pointer and pinky all sticking out—Ren went rigid again—the fear that had been oozing out onto the mound stopped, his cheeks growing rosy with embarrassment rather than anxiety.</p><p> Takaya held back a sigh. That had been the first sign Ren had given Takaya, and only Takaya. Though it was the same sign they used when calling outs, when Ren did it outside of practice, or games Takaya felt his heart soar.</p><p> Ren was smiling now, though it was faint, he was smiling.</p><p> Takaya gave Ren the next sign, the next pitch that hopefully could get them their first strikeout of this inning.</p><p> <em>A curveball to the outside. </em></p><p> This time Ren nodded.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>let's just ignore the fact everything I've written in the past couple weeks has been shit agelagsksg</p><p>i don't even care anymore, because yk what, whatever 😔😔 at least i enjoy writing</p><p>deadass this headcanon makes me sob, watch me make a whole ass au in a week because its not like i have like three uncomplicated aus sitting in my drive—</p></blockquote></div></div>
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